Wednesday, April 27, 2016

7 Posts: Valencia and "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend"

"Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" is a show I sometimes like for the things it hasn't done almost as much as what it has. Rebecca showed up in West Covina having found herself a house and a job but apparently not having done any social media research*, so she was surprised to discover that Josh had a girlfriend. Valencia. The same woman he dated in high school. (Which, ahem, was when Rebecca and Josh met. I'm just saying.)

Valencia is gorgeous and skinny and a yoga instructor. And she is mean to Rebecca and doesn't seem to appreciate Josh for what he is, as for what she wants him to become. But. She's also kind of right. Rebecca is after Josh (kind of). Rebecca has secretly done a crazy thing for Josh. But Valencia also has hopes and dreams for Josh that seem to be about him having a job that's more prestigious than part time at an electronics store. She wants Josh to be a guy who makes decisions quickly, makes long terms plans, and, quite honestly, proposes to his on again off again girlfriend of many many years. And those aren't really unrealistic expectations.

Rebecca on other hand loves Josh's love for his hometown, loves Josh's passion for working with kids, loves the things about him that seem just the same as when they were teenagers. So, on some levels, Josh is drawn to Rebecca's encouragement of a lot of the things that Valencia is hoping he will move away from.

And there isn't really a right or wrong here (well, except for kissing someone else's boyfriend). Valencia isn't wrong to hope that now that Josh has given up his dream of becoming an actor, that he will focus on having a career. That now that they've moved in together, that he will propose. It's only wrong if that's not who Josh wants to be. And up until the final episode, he was telling her that what he wanted was the same as what she wanted.

And Rebecca really does like Valencia, and after she managed to get in with Josh's family, she (eventually) worked to make them appreciate Valencia. When Paula almost ruined that, Rebecca took the blame, because she does, in the end, like Valencia, and realized that she didn't want to be the person who helped screw over Valencia.

So, I'm really hoping in season 2 Valencia finds herself a guy who not only appreciates her, but is willing to move forward in his life with her, rather than treating her like a comfort blanket.

*BTW I know it's partly for the TV like surprise of finding out in person, but I also feel like this speaks a little bit to Rebecca's move being less about Josh than she likes to think it is.